Further letter from Mr Andrew Tyrie MP
to the Chairman of the Committee

I am delighted you are giving some thought to
the idea of a "Committee Day" each week. You argue that
the Welsh Assembly can afford to have one because they don't have
primary legislation. I feel that the argument points the other
way: using the floor of the House as the main vehicle for the
scrutiny of primary legislation perpetuates the myth that the
Chamber has been doing a reasonable job.

Scrutiny of primary legislation can only be
improved by creating more effective committees. They will be able
to get on with the work only if they are, at least to some extent,
replacing rather than supplementing the exchanges which currently
pass for scrutiny on the floor of the house. Almost all parliaments
around the world have come to the same conclusionmost put
committees at the centre of scrutiny of primary legislation (and
much else) decades and, in the case of the US, centuries ago.